ARTICLES

The Exploited

Fuck Yeah! The Exploited at the Masquerade
Atlanta, GA 10/4/03

I love music that uses the word FUCK a lot. You can use the word fuck to mean so many fucking things in so so many fucking ways. So, I have to say FUCK YEAH MAN I love the fucking Exploited. A lot of fucking people in Atlanta feel the same way about the fucking Exploited too. –The Masquerade was PACKED for the first US tour by The Exploited in twelve years, and everybody had the fucking liberty spikes and ripped denim for the occasion. With the economy taking a major shit and everybody being out of work, Atlanta was fucking hungry to SCREAM with Wattie Buchnan. Fans rushed over security guards at top speed just to try to hug him and dance on stage dancing in a fucked up version of a solo slam dance, but still dancing. Now that’s kind of fucked up-that hug thing. I can’t imagine running up to Sid Vicious or Johnny Rotten and getting all fucking cuddly. So the question to ask here is why? Why do people feel like they want to hug Wattie? Why do people want to get close to The Exploited? -The answer is easy. Open your front fucking door and LOOK at the growing numbers of homeless people. Look at the growing pile of fucking bills you can’t pay. Isn’t it fun to play Russian roulette with the bills and see what the fuck is going to get turned off next?
Rap, which I don’t fucking like, became important because it was about life in the hood. It talked about drive-by’s and cops and what the fuck it took to survive. It WAS politically relevant. It no longer is. Who the fuck do YOU know that can afford a Mercedes Benz and a chest and mouth full of expensive jewelry? Who ever knew about what the fucking ‘bling-bling’ EVER was? Rap no longer speaks about the experiences people are having-it has become a fucked up genre PACKED with dirty little cartoon characters. Tu-pac Shakur was important. He had something to say. Eminem MIGHT survive if he stays fucking EDGY. –Punk, which I have ALWAYS loved, has always speaks about experiences EVERYBODY has. Everybody, at one point in their lives, has felt like a fucking outsider. Everybody has felt anger, righteous rage, and fucking frustration. A lot of punks have had to flatten their hair, play the game, and get jobs in order to survive-and they have found out a fucking horrible thing. Playing by the rules doesn’t get you a FUCKING THING. You get tired, ran down, and made a slave to a set of rules that somebody with a fucking huge pile of money pulled out of their ass in order to keep you in line. If you don’t follow the RULES, you won’t have a job, you won’t have a life, and you will go fucking hungry. Why? Because you became a part of the system. The system is a motherfucker. Who likes to play fucking kiss ass ANYWAY?
So, the return of The Exploited to the States is RIGHT ON FUCKING TIME. FUCK THE SYSTEM. Wattie Buchnan is screaming about what we are all feeling right now. FUCK THE SYSTEM was a crowd favorite at the Masquerade. WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME was a happy fucking crowd pleaser too. Think about it. Two NEW tracks of the NEW CD, and the crowd knew every word. –The band reached all the way back to 1981 to play PUNKS NOT DEAD. The crowd sang back to Wattie in four-part harmony. It was BEYOND fucking amazing. Everybody knew every word. –There was this twelve year old kid that kept rushing the stage. I was fucking touched that the band pulled him to safety on several occasions. The guitar player patted him on the head more than once. –See fucking punk is a family affair, isn’t it? Parents WANT their kids to know about LIFE early, and after all-THE EXPLOITED are a bunch of cool mother fuckers (direct quote by Reverend GonZo of Knuckleduster).
Wattie Buchnan was a soldier. Around the end of the seventies, he started The Exploited. The Exploited hit full steam when Reagan and Thatcher were in office. Times were fucking tough then too, but they aren’t as bad as right now huh? The Exploited became known for being against fucking authority and against fucking war. Wattie, the soldier, is against war. This makes total fucking sense to me. Shouldn’t we be listening to people that have be IN WAR when it comes to war? Look at George W. Bush’s stint in the military-he spent NO TIME FIGHTING, but he feels like he has THE RIGHT to send people to die. Somebody who knows what war is like should declare war. –Authority? Listening to fucking authority will break your mother fucking back. That is why people are HUNGRY for THE EXPLOITED. The scene was fierce for the show. People are hungry and angry and need an outlet. Wattie’s LIFE IS CHAOS and so is ours. The punks were SLAMMING each other and reaching for the stage in waves. Can you blame them? Everybody wants to feel like somebody out there understands. The Exploited have ALWAYS understood. An Exploited show is worth more than the price of a ticket. It is a picture of society. You want some fucking reality TV that comes complete with kick ass music? Go see them, live. Right now.